Lake Shore & Michigan Southern / Toledo & Ohio Central 2-6-2 "Prairie" Type Locomotives

Class J-40 (Locobase 816)

Lake Shore & Michigan Southern was a New York Central subsidiary.

Drury (1993) notes that this class carried too much weight on their drivers. Railroad Gazette (29 March 1901) comments that compared to the 10-wheelers delivered in 1899, these engines showed more heating surface, but added that "the increase results from the use of 19-ft tubes, forming heating surface of doubtful value." RG also observed the smaller firebox heating surface, implicitly criticizing the design by adding that 1 sq ft of firebox heating surface is worth 10 in the tubes. In this case, the writer added, that may be too small a ratio. The wide grates made for easier firing, however, and a review later in the year said they had shown "economy in fuel and remarkable ability to haul heavy trains at high speed."

Staufer (1967), p 216, notes that their success wasn't particularly because of the Prairie wheel arrangement but because of the large boiler. On the other hand, he says, the design's tendency to "nose" at high speed was due to how the drivers and pony trucks were equalized and the weight distribution (alluded to in the above-quoted RG article) and a short main rod. When later modified with Walschaerts gear, they acquired the nickname "Grasshoppers".

Builder info from B.Rumary, 25 Kingscombe, Gurney Slade, Radstock, BA3 4TH, ENGLAND and Jeremy Lambert as supplied by Allen Stanley in March 2004.

First two had Brooks works #3733-3734 and were produced in January 1901. The next batch -- works #3866-3874 (road #652-662 (660 missing)) -- came in June.

Some transferred to the Toledo & Ohio Central; most retired early.

Class J-40D (Locobase 5213)

Virtually identical to the J-40g that preceded them by a year, these 5 were also superheated, but fitted with Baker rather than Walschaerts gear. Like the J-40gs, these had 11"-diameter piston valves with a relatively short 5 1/2" travel and the firebox heating surface included 24.56 sq ft of arch tubes. The 1917 diagrams clearly show an increase in superheater area even though both classes had the same number and diameter of superheater flues.

Data from http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/toe-p41.gif (visited December 2002).

Class J-40G (Locobase 5212)

A large, high-speed Prairie that certainly entered service with a saturated-steam boiler; a twin to the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern's J-40 of a year earlier. The firebox heating surface included 24.56 sq ft of arch tubes.

The T&OC's quartet were superheated before 1917 when the New York Central's reference diagram was prepared.

By that time, the locomotive had sizable 11"-diameter piston valves with a relatively short 5 1/2" travel.

Data from http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/toe-p33.gif (visited December 2002).

Class J-41 (Locobase 5348)

Lake Shore & Michigan Southern was a New York Central subsidiary.

Data from a table in June 1906 AERJ.

Drury (1993) says that in contrast to the earlier J-40s, these Prairies were successful enough to be rebuilt as K-41 Pacifics in 1924-1925. Staufer (1967) says the improvement came in part from lengthening the engine by 5 feet.

Specifications
Class	J-40	J-40D	J-40G	J-41
Locobase ID	816	5213	5212	5348
Railroad	Lake Shore & Michigan Southern (NYC)	Toledo & Ohio Central (NYC)	Toledo & Ohio Central (NYC)	Lake Shore & Michigan Southern (NYC)
Whyte	2-6-2	2-6-2	2-6-2	2-6-2
Road Numbers	650-695 / 4650-4695	9572-9576	9568-9571	4700-4734
Gauge	Std	Std	Std	Std
Builder	Brooks	Brooks	Brooks	Brooks
Year	1901	1903	1902	1904
Valve Gear	Stephenson	Baker	Walschaert	Stephenson
	Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase	14'	14'	14'	14'
Engine Wheelbase	31.83'	31.83'	31.83'	34.25'
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheebase	0.44	0.44	0.44	0.41
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender)	57.33'	60.21'	60.21'	62.28'
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle)
Weight on Drivers	130000 lbs	134000 lbs	134000 lbs	165200 lbs
Engine Weight	174500 lbs	186000 lbs	186000 lbs	233000 lbs
Tender Light Weight	148500 lbs	138500 lbs	138500 lbs	159900 lbs
Total Engine and Tender Weight	323000 lbs	324500 lbs	324500 lbs	392900 lbs
Tender Water Capacity	7000 gals	7000 gals	7000 gals	8000 gals
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal)	13 tons	13 tons	13 tons	15 tons
Minimum weight per yard of rail on which locomotive could run	72.22 lb rail	74.44 lb rail	74.44 lb rail	91.78 lb rail
	Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter	80"	81"	81"	79"
Boiler Pressure	200 psi	180 psi	180 psi	200 psi
Cylinders (dia x stroke)	20.5" x 28"	20.5" x 28"	20.5" x 28"	22" x 28"
Tractive Effort	25005 lbs	22227 lbs	22227 lbs	29163 lbs
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort)	5.20	6.03	6.03	5.66
	Heating Ability
Firebox Area	174 sq. ft	190 sq. ft	190 sq. ft	222 sq. ft
Grate Area	48.50 sq. ft	48.60 sq. ft	48.60 sq. ft	55 sq. ft
Evaporative Heating Surface	3343	2821	2822	3901
Superheating Surface		855	570
Combined Heating Surface	3343	3676	3392	3901
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume	312.53	263.73	263.82	316.66
	Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation	9700	8748	8748	11000
Same as above plus superheater percentage	9700	10782.70	10218.04	11000
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area	34800	42154.57	39947.05	44400
Power L1	10503.12	26048.12	20223.30	10711.51
Power MT	534.36	1285.66	998.16	428.84